29 September 2005

Joining the Existential Fray

Rebecca and Paul, joined significantly, in the comments, by Emery, have been waxing philosophical of late. Don't they know that I am supposed to be the philosopher around here? Well, to be fair, Emery has certainly read more philosophy than I (and taken notes on it), Rebecca has read everything I've ever written and heard aloud most of what I've read, and Paul's discussions of science, technology, and life continually convince me that he should be the theorist, not me. So I suppose my credentials don't mean much.

At any rate, they've been talking about striving and ambition, and finding a way to live in the moment at hand rather than disrupting that moment with longings and frustration. In Heideggerian terms, it's all about recognizing one's thrownness into Being, rather than struggling against it, thereby producing fallenness. Dasein (us) is that creature for which Being is at issue. The posts referenced above prove that for sure.

I want to add a new wrinkle: what to do when you find yourself on the precipice of fallenness precisely because life seems so good? You start to worry about when the bubble will burst, about what darkness lies round the corner, all because things seem a bit too good to be true. I've been doing this over the past week or so: becoming strangely paranoid and freakishly worried, all because I seem to really, really like the place I live, my new job, and my new colleagues. Plus, folks seem to appreciate me around here, and what could be more suspicious than that? My 'authentic Being' seems to consist of living with a chip on my shoulder, and they are trying to take that away from me!

4 comments:

I won't profess to be a Heidegger guy, but I will make a point based on Madonna. Sam, one should always feel free to reinvent oneself. Maybe it's time to set that chip aside and appreciate being appreciated.